February 15, 2013
Professor Bans Students From Using Fox News As A Source
While it’s not shocking that a journalism professor would ban students from citing news sources that are not credible, it is eyebrow-raising that one of those sources would be Fox News. In a copy of a syllabus obtained by Fox,Stephanie Wolfe, a visiting professor of journalism at West Liberty University in West Virginia, banned her students from citing Fox because she finds it cringe-worthy.

In the syllabus, the Wolfe banned The Onion and Fox News. “Please do not subject me to this biased news station,” Wolfe wrote. “I would almost rather you print off an article from The Onion.”

The university’s president, Robin Capehart, did not appear to agree with Wolfe’s decision when asked for comment.
“One of our values at West Liberty is to encourage students to go out and inquire and gather information and look at as many different sources as possible on any side, before you reach your opinion,” Capehart told a local West Virginia news outlet. “Any attempt to limit the breadth of a student’s ability to investigate is obviously something at which we have a concern.”

__________________
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father ... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

"If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson

I saw a student FLIP THE **** OUT last year after he wrote a term paper citing wikipedia exclusively as a source and failed miserably.

He's no longer in school.

Would have been better off using the Onion?

__________________
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father ... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

"If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson

February 15, 2013
Professor Bans Students From Using Fox News As A Source
While it’s not shocking that a journalism professor would ban students from citing news sources that are not credible, it is eyebrow-raising that one of those sources would be Fox News. In a copy of a syllabus obtained by Fox,Stephanie Wolfe, a visiting professor of journalism at West Liberty University in West Virginia, banned her students from citing Fox because she finds it cringe-worthy.

I find it completely understandable that a journalism professor would refuse to accept data from an entertainment source. I would imagine that he is trying to teach his students how to be journalists. There should be some other course that they can take within the creative writing field where they could use sources like TMZ, Entertainment Tonight and Fox News.

A prof. in West Virginia is causing some controversy after she reportedly issued a syllabus that filtered student’s research options and banning citing Fox News, according to WTOV.

The syllabus tells students in the teacher’s political science course at West Liberty University political science course what sources they can and can’t use. One of those sources is Fox News.

In the syllabus, the professor allegedly says, “The tagline Fox News makes me cringe.”
“One of our values at West Liberty is to encourage students to go out and inquire and gather information and look at as many different sources as possible on any side, before you reach your opinion,” Robin Capehart, president of West Liberty University, told WTOV.

Parents claim it is unfair to the students to encourage some sources which lean in one direction politically, while discouraging those going in the other direction.

I found out that a 2003 Florida appeals court case decided that Fox News has a First Amendment right to lie:

A Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast.

It’s not like i disagree with the fundamental premise involved here. Fox Noise probably does have a First Amendment right to lie to its viewers. As a lawyer, it’s just interesting to imagine the oral arguments in the case. Here’s how my imagination frames it:

Judge: So, does Fox News lie in its coverage of the news?

Fox News Lawyer: Well, of course, your honor, have you watched our network!? But seriously, it’s not as if there’s anything legally wrong with that!

Man Droppings has some good thoughts on this:

[T]his cuts to the chase on the old, tired argument I get when I try to trash Faux News to true believers: ‘Oh, but all the news lies, it’s just a matter of their view.’

Yes, it is true, in the simplest sense of true, that all news is by definition biased. There can be no truly objective news, because it is presented by humans, who have biases. However, this court ruling shows that Fox News, and Fox News alone, as far as I know, deliberately sets out to distort the truth as a matter of course.

And the fact that so many people not only buy into these lies, but actually seek out these lies because they are simple, and straightforward, and don’t challenge the consumer to think for himself–this is what spells our doom as a species. We prefer comfort, we prefer simplicity, and we shy away from challenges. We are soft, in body and in mind, and in my more pessimistic moods, I see Fox News as a stalking horse for a future in which we are ever dumber, and ever more controlled.

That may sound a bit apocalyptic, but you have to admit, we are getting dumber. And it is also demonstrable that dumb people are easier to control than smart people, those who ask questions. So does it make sense, therefore, that those who seek to control might wish to deliberately seek out ways to make and keep people dumber?

I find it completely understandable that a journalism professor would refuse to accept data from an entertainment source. I would imagine that he is trying to teach his students how to be journalists. There should be some other course that they can take within the creative writing field where they could use sources like TMZ, Entertainment Tonight and Fox News.

Don't justify this crap.

I hate Fox News. I think it's biased journalism. But don't try to treat this as anything more than a douche bag Professor trying to inject politics onto a classroom. If she had such a problem with Fox News, she would specifically call out MSNBC and Huffington Post here.

A classroom should be an unbiased place. The fact that grades are going to be determined more than likely based on agreement with her political position, is ****ed up.

By Staff
Feb 15, 2013
Professor bans Fox News as a credible source for assignments - Professor Stephanie Wolfe of West Liberty college in West Virginia has told her students they can no longer use Fox News as a credible source for her classroom, even placing the news channel below the satirical website 'The Onion.'
A syllabus obtained by Fox News noted that the professor handed out a sheet that stated two sources to not use and though one of those was 'The Onion,' the professor would rather a student use satire than any report from Fox News.

DO NOT Use:
1) The Onion - this is not news this is literally a parody
2) Fox News - The tagline "Fox News" makes me cringe. Please do not subject me to this biased news station.

Fox's tagline is actually "Fair and Balanced" and that is likely what made the liberal professor cringe.

She added that she hates the news station so much, she would rather have parody from the Onion used as a source.

"I would almost rather you print off an article from the Onion," the syllabus also stated.

The teacher said she would prefer articles from The Huffington Post, BBC or CNN be used for sources on her assignments.

Is that narrow minded and wrong?

University President Robin Capehart thinks so and said in an interview that the ban on Fox News was inappropriate saying that the university wants students to "conduct research and come to their own conclusions and be challenged."

He said that banning Fox News as a news source "dampened inquiry," and he said he would have felt the same way about telling students not to use MSNBC, according to Inside Higher Ed.

"Isn't the idea that you use what sources you can and then you have to defend the facts?" he said. "To me that's what college is all about -- being able to conduct your research and conduct your own conclusions, and the professor needs to be able to challenge it."

The professor has now changed her rule, according to Capehart.

According to West Liberty University, Wolfe most recently taught courses in holocaust and genocide studies at Keene State College in New Hampshire. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma and her Ph.D from the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies in Belgium, reports Yahoo News.

"One of the real changes that comes when you start running for President -- as opposed to being an analyst on Fox -- is I have to actually know what I'm talking about. It's a severe limitation."
--Newt Gingrich at at 2012 campaign stop